Geneva McKinley may not have been good enough for Milwaukee County after she was convicted of tax fraud.

But McKinley has found a place at City Hall.

The 51-year-old attorney has been hired as a part-time paralegal at the city's Fire and Police Commission, earning $22.60 an hour. McKinley, who began earlier this month, is putting in from 20 to 40 hours a week and is receiving no benefits. | March 11, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(42)

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. is not a subtle guy, especially when he's angry.

And he was quite upset on Thursday night about a Politico profile of New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Brattonwith the headline: "Bratton once saved New York from criminals. Now can he save it from the police?"

Conservative talk show host Mark Belling was upset with a WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) story that bungled its description of "right to work" legislation.

"If passed, the bill would make Wisconsin the 25th state to ban employees from joining a union or pay union dues," reporter Julia Fello wrote on the station's website.

Actually, the bill would do no such thing. Right-to-work laws bar private businesses and unions from reaching labor deals that require workers to pay union fees. | March 4, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(689)

A local union official has asked the Milwaukee County Democratic Party to oust Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele from its ranks for his recent veto of a proposal to allow more than 200 county retirees to receive some $36 million in disputed pension payments.

But Abele is defending his actions, saying the money should have been spent on services for county residents.

Dennis Hughes, a staffer with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 40 in Madison, urged the party to expel or censure Abele for his "failure to ensure that Milwaukee County government treats their retirees fairly and equally under the law." | Feb. 25, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(30)

Gov Scott Walker said Tuesday that his May 2012 pledge to "do everything in my power" to block right to work legislation was intended to apply only to his first term -- a statement that he didn't make explicit at the time.

The Republican governor has said in recent days that he would sign the proposal affecting private-sector unions and workers after saying for four years that he would keep the bill from becoming a priority for lawmakers but declining to say whether he would veto it.

State Republican Party officials threatened last week to sue Milwaukee County for failing to fulfill an October open records request regarding the county's release of thousands of John Doe emails shortly before the general election for Gov. Scott Walker.

"It doesn’t seem that County Executive Chris Abele has bothered to institute a consistent policy for responding to open records requests, and the ongoing pattern of using his office for political purposes is especially troubling," said Joe Fadness, executive director of the state Republican Party.

"It would be instructive to ask for his official open records request policy, but who knows if we’d receive an answer before 2018." | Feb. 3, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(27)

"Scott Walker (once) said you have to be kind of crazy to want to run for president," said state Democratic Party spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff. "If he's borrowing campaign ideas from Glenn Beck, that must be true." | Jan. 29, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(74)

Conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes joined me Wednesday for a two-chat on JS Online answering questions about Gov. Scott Walker, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and other local politicians and recent political developments.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is getting a divorce from his wife, Miriam.

Brendan Conway, spokesman for the county executive, said the couple separated about six months ago and are currently working out the details of their divorce. They have yet to file anything with the courts.

"They're working on a collaborative divorce, which is where both parties jointly file when they are agreed on everything," Conway said. "Chris and Miriam aren't interested in publicly discussing this private matter anymore." | Jan. 20, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(7)

Mike Tate, the face of the state Democratic Party for the past six years, will step down as party chief at the end of his current term.

“This is not a job you do for a career, but one you have the honor of holding for a short period of time where you try with all your might to do everything you can to grow the party and help elect Democrats,” Tate wrote in an email obtained by the Journal Sentinel.

“Accordingly, today I am announcing that I will not seek another term as chair at our convention in June.” | Jan. 15, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(340)

Supreme Solar Allah -- the son of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore who was convicted of slashing the tires of vans rented by the Republican Party in 2004 -- is running for the 10th District seat on the Milwaukee County Board.

Julietta Henry, the county elections director, said Allah -- whose name will appear on the ballot as Supreme Moore Omokunde -- turned in enough signatures to vie for the seat previously held by Supervisor David Bowen. More than 200 signatures were certified, Henry said.

Gov. Scott Walker says he is seriously considering whether he should run for president in 2016.

One of the state's top Republicans believes the decision has all but been made.

In a chat with the Journal Sentinel editorial board on Friday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was asked how likely did he think it was that Walker would jump at the chance to compete for the Republican presidential nomination. | Jan. 10, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(18)

On the same day that he was sworn into office, U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman -- Wisconsin's newest federal lawmaker -- came under fire for backing Ohio Rep. John Boehner for another term as House speaker.

During a GOP primary debate in August, Grothman tore into Boehner and the GOP House leadership for their handling of education and immigration issues. That had led some to speculate that Grothman would support Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert -- a Tea Party favorite -- for the top House job. | Jan. 6, 2015»Read Full Blog Post(25)

President Barack Obama recently quoted a nonexistent Bible verse to help sell his executive action on immigration, earning the scorn of his conservative foes.

But it appears that Gov. Scott Walker -- whose father was a Baptist minister -- made a similar mistake when talking to theWall Street Journal last month about Obamacare and Medicaid. Walker is angling to run for president in 2016.

“It’s probably not fair to ask the son of a preacher to use biblical metaphors,” Walker said. “My reading of the Bible finds plenty of reminders that it’s better to teach someone to fish than to give them fish if they’re able. . . . Caring for the poor isn’t the same as taking money from the federal government to lock more people into Medicaid.” | Dec. 13, 2014»Read Full Blog Post(204)

Long a local government watchdog and critic, conservative activist Orville Seymer is now asking the federal government to help him sort out his money troubles.

Seymer-- a top official with Citizens for Responsible Government -- filed for bankruptcy last month, listing $147,126 in assets and more than $1 million in liabilities. He is seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which stops all legal actions and could allow him to write off many of his debts.

Seymer is pinning much of the blame for his financial woes on City Hall, saying he has been targeted by city building inspectors for speaking out against local officials. | Dec. 3, 2014»Read Full Blog Post(84)

Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas announced Thursday that he won't be running for re-election in the spring.

The announcement comes some eight months after Vrakas made public the fact that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He completed treatment in 10 weeks and returned to work full time in June.

Word of Vrakas' impending retirement announcement had several leading Waukesha Republicans scrambling to gauge and, in some cases, lock up support for what will be an open seat. The general election for the nonpartisan office is to be held in April. | Nov. 13, 2014»Read Full Blog Post(35)